Boeing’s heavy-duty drones, dressed up as X-Wing fighters, flew in for a cameo at last week’s dedication of Disney’s new “Rise of the Resistance” thrill ride in a Star Wars theme park.
- As reported by The Drive’s Tyler Rogoway, the Star Wars fighters appear to be based on the design for Boeing’s van-sized Cargo Air Vehicle drone, which was unveiled last year. Boeing confirmed that a pair of its aircraft flew during the ride’s Dec. 4 dedication ceremony at the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge theme park in Florida.
- The drones popped up for about a minute over a mock mountain range during a live-action performance that was part of the ceremony, sparking scattered cheers from the hundreds in attendance. Check out this Disney Parks video to get the context for the fly-in (at about the six-minute mark).
- Keep an eye out for coming attractions: The final movie in the nine-film Skywalker saga, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” is set for release on Dec. 20. Meanwhile, Boeing and its partners are working on an assortment of autonomous drone projects, including the Cargo Air Vehicle, a passenger air vehicle, the solar-powered Odysseus drone, Wisk’s flying taxi and maybe even a Porsche flying sports car.